Showing posts with label Boy Scouts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boy Scouts. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Gleaning Facebook: Trump Speaks to the Scouts?!

 From Dan Rather:

Donald Trump's speech last night in front of the Boy Scouts of America was not only highly inappropriate. It was disgusting.
I would like to hope it is a nadir in our country's political discourse, but it seems like the slide downward only accelerates. So it stands as a sad encapsulation of our current age.
No doubt many in the crowd were riled up by Mr. Trump's stale rhetoric of "fake news" and lies about his "massive" electoral victory. But the Boy Scouts is a diverse organization with chapters in every corner of this nation. And today, many are no doubt wondering whether they belong in a group that is supposed to be built on community and service. Many of these boys may be wondering more broadly whether they belong in a country led by a man like this.
Scouts learn the importance of being “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” How few of those adjectives apply to our current Commander in Chief. A man who can't control himself to act in a manner befitting the setting, is a man without the steadiness of character to run a nation. A grown man who is so insecure as to seek affirmation in a group of teenagers is not a man with the maturity to lead a nation. A man who is so self-absorbed as to make every utterance about himself and his needs is not a man with the vision to elevate a nation.
Part of being president is to be the leader of the entire country. And every president I can remember (and that's a lot of them) revelled in moments when they had a venue to shake off the partisanship of Washington and speak in exalted tones to the people. But whether it's dedicating an aircraft carrier or talking to Boy Scouts, Mr. Trump so far has seemed incapable of performing that simple task.
Bluntly put - and there is no joy in having to say this – he is tearing apart the norms of our nation. So it is incumbent on those who recognize the damage being done to stitch back the bonds that unite us and work hard to muffle the echoes of his divisiveness.


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"The President's speech at the Boy Scouts Rally yesterday was beyond disgraceful, distasteful, and unconscionable. Regardless of one's political leaning, our nation's young people should never be subjected to such rhetoric. This was an opportunity to inspire and uplift, but our petty President failed miserably."
-- from a friend who does not allow sharing from his Facebook page.

He's exactly correct. We must get rid (legally, constitutionally) of this stain on the presidency. I dread a Pence presidency, in some ways even more than the Great Liar's presidency when it comes to policy, but we must get this evil out of George Washington's seat. 

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If one can observe the effluence of Donald John Trump's mouth as he spoke to thousands of underage boys and not recognize evil, one needs to examine his own heart.
This is just another day of chaos and outrageousness in the Trump era, any one of which would have been in the first paragraph of the bio of any other president.

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Where's the Momentum merit badge? Comments Marion Dobbs Oh, there should be several more - golfing, groping, covfefe.
Laurie Craw I'm glad our son wasn't still active in scouting when this happened. What an insult to all Scouts and their local troop leaders who put so much of their time, energy and money into teaching boys to be men of good character.


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Gleaning FaceBook: A Boy's Life

The blustering and bomb-testing (late fifties and early sixties) was scary for thirteen-year-olds too, as I recall. When I renewed my Boy's Life subscription that year (Could they have had a five year subscription period?) I wondered, quite seriously, if I, or Boys Life for that matter, would be around for all those issues.

What a gloomy note for Christmas Eve! But, hey, we survived and Boy's Life inked editions are still surviving these digital days.
And I talked briefly with Santa a while ago. He's a little aggravated with me for the interruption* and would just turn off his iPhone except he's become dependent on it to coordinate complicated resupply system with the elf/reindeer relays from the North Pole. He's making deliveries through Asia right now and, thank goodness, on track to make it to North America right on time.
* it goes without saying that releasing all that personal info on Santa, including his cell number, means a lifetime supply of stocking coal for Anonymous!

[The article by Bill Moyers is no longer available at this site]

David Marlin Rains I remember reading a Boys Life article back in the '50s. Johnny runs for a touchdown but only Johnny, not the refs or anybody, realizes he stepped out of bounds. So Johnny confesses and his team loses. At that age, I didn't have the vocabulary but I was thinking HorseManoo.
Terrell Shaw
Granted, but my idealistic young soul always looked forward to finding
Boy's Life in the mail.
David Marlin Rains O me 2
John Paul Schulz Boy's Life and Saturday Evening Post. I loved that one.

George Barton made me think of the the spoof in the movie "Airplane" where a boy on the plane is reading Boy's Life and a habited nun sitting behind him is reading Nun's Life

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Gleaning Facebook: Scouts


Check out the front page of today's RNT to see the Burton boys showing off their archaeological finds. They've been investigating the grounds of the famous Cave Spring Cabin.
Miles & Cody (Michael J. Burton's boys) , Joseph Smyth (Gola Burton's boy), All three (Steve Craw's scouts).
"Cave Spring Boy Scouts Troop 20 members Miles Burton (from left), Cody Burton and Joseph Smith look over some artifacts before a presentation to the Cave Spring Historical Society Monday night. (Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune)"

Comments:

Michael J. Burton Those handsome burton boys! Just like their daddy.

Betty Smith Franklin Love that gaze....

Julie Hatfield Burton Rocks my boys!!! They're the best!!

Dinah Moss Estes Congrats!

Paula Frances Ardito Oh wow!!!! Thats something! High five to the boys! Id be so prroouudddd 

Lynne Crothers Williams Great to see them involved, been following the cabin project on FB.

Michael J. Burton They are workers...willing to dig out in the hot sun, so glad to see them get a little recognition.


Kathy Baker Way to go, find more.


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Gleaning Facebook: Armuchee In the Snow

McGraw Entrance to our Nature Trail
Cathy McGraw’s father built this nice entrance way to our school nature trail. The split rail fence designates the area where we once had a bog garden (now gone) of interesting insectivorous plants. I hope someone will resurrect that project some day.


Bridge #1
This was the Eagle Scout project of AES alumnus Jesse Crider and Troop 56 BSA. This bridge gives classes access from the small original nature trail to a newer downstream section of trail.


The second bridge on our nature trail
Carsten Boehm, another alumnus of AES, and Troop 56 built this bridge as Carsten’s Eagle project.



Third bridge site (proposed)
This is near the back corner of our school property. We plan to place another bridge here. Last year the Martin twins cleared the new sections of the trail, installed occasional bollards, and created a switchback trail up the ridge from this point.


Our brook (a)
Today I took the upstream trail breaking with each step the crusted untrod surface of three-day-old snow.
CCC pond
Closer to the end of the fifth grade hall than the school bus entrance is a little pond and wetland that was part of a CCC camp during the Great Depression. Today a Great Blue Heron and I surprised each other. I was too slow to capture a decent shot of him. A couple of years ago a pair of Canada Geese made a nest right in the middle of it.



CCC pond (Berry property)
There ia a Great Blue Heron in flight across the pond, but you can't really see him. Next time I get close to the pond with the camera I'll have it zoomed in and set on rapid fire.

CCC pond (on Berry property)
Barbara Helie
My dad was in the CCC's in New Hampshire.

Terrell Shaw
How about that. I have seen somewhere -- I think online -- a picture of this pond from the thirties with CCC guys and their barracks and such around. Did you ever talk with your Dad about his experiences. What kind of work did his group do?


Our brook (b) on Patterson property
I wish the school owned just another 100 yards of property. I love this low spot at the base of the ridge where two very small brooks and a wet weather waterfall form our school brook. An absolutely perfect spot for some more benches and outdoor lessons


The second bridge again
This bridge gives access to what I call “The Long Trail” that follows the brook to the very corner of school property then climbs the ridge and follows it back to the old trail near the McGraw entrance.

The first bridge again
We have a much more interesting name for this bridge, provided we ever manage to install the third one.


Outdoor Classroom
The huge benches were our first Boy Scout Eagle project at our school 15 years ago. The second was the platform that completed this outdoor classroom. Though the leafless winter branches you can see the fifth grade wing of the school.
McGraw Entrance and Fifth Grade wing
And this brings me back to the entrance and an end to my quiet Snow Walk.


Armuchee Creek
After a walk around the courtyards and playground, I decided to see if the view off the Little Texas Valley bridge over the Armuchee Creek might be worthy of a photograph.
Ann Gore
Beautiful view!! My family were raised here in this area.

Little Texas Valley bridge
I found the bridge and the road up the hill on the far side completely covered with thick, hardened ice. After taking a few shots I managed to get my car rotated in increments of a few degrees at a time till I could drive back the way I’d come.
Ann Gore
Have gone over this bridge hundreds to times to see my grandparents.

Friday, January 02, 1970

Online Time Travel: Ellijay Scoutmaster

 My Daddy was my scoutmaster when I was a Boy Scout in Ellijay, GA just before we moved to Rome, GA, in February 1962. I do not know the exact date of this certificate but it would likely have been shortly before we moved.